Fornia



2 Sheets- Sheet 1.

liu T-m. Patented 00's.` 16, 1888.

P. WILCOMB.

KNITTING MACHINE.

N. PETERS. Phmnuungnpmr, wuhingmn. 0. Cy

(No Model.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

I'. WILCOMB.

KNITTING MACHINE. l No. 391,348. Patented'oot. 16, 188.8.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK XVILCOMB, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE VILCOMB MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALI- FORNIA.

MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 391,348, dated October 16, 1888.

Application filed March 1, 1888.

To aZZ whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, FRANK WrLcoME, of Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Knitting Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

The distinctive feature of this invention consists iu the employment of special devices in connection with the sinker-beds of knittingmachines, whereby the necessary adjustment of the beds to suit different conditions and grades of work and to make the knitting devices perform their proper functions may be readily and accurately effected to any extent desired. I aim to provide means of adjustment by which the movement at one end of the sinker-bed will be exactly equal to that at the other end and be also concurrent therewith.

In the drawings, Figure l is a transverse section through the upper part of a knitting-machine, showing a needle, sinkers, and beds of each side with means of adjustment. Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating my invention as applied to a particular style of machine, only one row of sinkers being here shown. Fig. 3 is a plan View of part of Fig. l, with the needlebeds removed. Fig. 4 is a detail view. Fig. 5 is a detail view illustrating the connection between the main slide-bars and those employed for operating the movable sinkers and movable knock-over bits shown in Fig. 2.

The beds A support and direct the needles in their movement, as ordinarily, and also guide the operating slide-bars Mawhich carry the cams for thrusting the needles forward and back to catch the thread from the carrier B in knitting.

In the form of machine represented in Fig. 1 each of the sinker-beds C C is provided at each end with a laterally-extending arm or bracket, c, which brackets are formed at such an angle to the bed that when they are in place they will lie .positioned directly beneath the inclined under side ofthe needle-beds. Here they are supported by holding and guiding blocks d d, secured to the under sides of the needle-beds. The bracket-arms c c and the guides are fitted snugly to each other, to prevent any lateral play, while allowing forward and backward movement for the sake of adjustment. The arms are located at a distance apart, preferably as far as the organization of the machine will permit, and by reason of this and the accurate fitting of the guide-blocks there is no liability of one end advancing or retreating before the other, and the sinkersin adjustment will always maintain the same parallel relation to needles and to the path traveled by the thread-guide.

Extendinglongitudinally of the machine and under the needle-bed is a shaft, B', supported in hangers b b, depending from said bed. This shaft represents one of the essential elements of my invention, as forming the operating connection between the guiding-brackets. The ends of the shaft are similarly connected with the brackets, and When moved in either direction it imparts a simultaneous corresponding movement to the sinker beds and sinkers through the end connections and the brackets. The ends of the shaft are provided with worms 4 4,with which engage pinions 5 5, carried by screw-threaded rods 6 6. The latter are supported by engaging and passing through the down-turned ends ofthe bracket-arms cc atone end and at the other by bearings on the end of adjustable screws 7 7,which may be set to take up the wear. The shaft is provided with thumb-wheels e e, Fig. 3, by which it may be turned, and when so turned it effects the ac'- curate adjustment of the sinkers, as has been seen. The pitch of the wormsand of thescrewthreads on the rods is such that it takes a considerable movement of the shaft to move the brackets slightly, thus enabling the operator to adj ust the sinker to the smallest fraction of an inch. l

The above combination of devices may be used with other style machines than that illustrated in Fig. l, and I have shown in Fig. 2 the manner of applying the invention to a machine such as is described by me in an application tiled by mc on the 18th of April, 1888, Serial No. 271,026. In this machine the sinkersf are movable, being designed to measure oli' the yarn as it is fed to the needles, and for operating them a slide-bar, j", is employed. In conjunc- IOO tion with these sinkers in themachine referred to, movable knock-over bits g are used to cast OE the old loops after the yarn has been measured off by the sinkers for the new loops and' they have been moved back out of the way. and for operating these bits an operating slide-bar, g', is used. This combination of devices must always bear the same relation to each other; but, as in the case of the sinker and beds above mentioned, their simultaneous and uniform adjustment is essential at times to change them respecting the needles, or in respect to the line of travel of the thread-guide. This necessitates a special form of bracketsupport, as shown in Fig. 2. The beds l and 1l for the sinkers and cast-off bits are secured to the bracket by suitable screws and guideways, and supportingseats are formed for the operating slide-bars designed for these parts, the sin kers and bits having heels 12, which enter camgrooves in the bars, and thus receive proper motion. The sinker slide-bar is held in place by means of cap-pieces 13. The whole is carried by the laterally-extending bracket-arms,

and is thus capable of simultaneous adjustment when the operating connections between the brackets are manipulated either one Way or the other.

The slide-barsf g for the movable sinkers and knock-Over bits are driven from the main slide-bar a, which in turn may be operated in the well-known manner. The connection between the slide bars f g and the main slidebar is adapted to allow the adjustment of the sinkers and bits with their supporting-brackets, as above referred to. This connection consists of a bracket, c', to which the slide-barsf g are attached, as shown in Fig. 5, near their ing the same, supportsfor said brackets, a

screw-threaded rod engaging the end of each bracket, and an operating connection between the said rods for adjusting the brackets simultaneously, substantially as described.

2. Incombination, the needles and bed, the sinkers and bed, the movable brackets, the guide-blocks, the shaft having a worm at cach end, and the screw-rods and pinions operated by said worms and acting upon /the movable brackets, substantially as described.

3. In combination, the movable sinkers and bed, the slide-bar for operating the sinkers, the loop casting-off bits and bed with the slidebar therefor, the movable brackets supporting all the said devices, and the operating connections between the brackets for adjusting them, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK WILCOMB. Witnesses:

GEO. R. WILSON, JOHN LEE. 

